Cordless telephone for Internet telephony

RTX Telecom and SkypeTM have signed a marketing and licence agreement enabling RTX to develop ODM telephone designs for telephone manufacturers as well as private labelled products for operators, distributors and retailers. The first result of the cooperation is the introduction of a 2-in-1cordless telephone for Internet telephony using SkypeTM and for ordinary telephony using the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). The agreement is expected to accelerate the consumer mass market’s uptake of Internet telephony via SkypeTM.

Convenient cordless products

Easy-to-use products are a key driver in securing a consumer mass market uptake of Voice over the Internet (VoIP). By giving consumers convenient cordless handsets that eliminate the need to sit at a PC to use Internet telephony, the telephone will shorten time-to-market and lower entry-barriers for a host of manufacturers. This will accelerate the introduction of a broad selection of handsets to consumers around the world.

The handset allows the end-user to decide whether to make a free SkypeTM call via the Internet or use the analogue telephone line. As well as giving users mobility away from the PC, the telephone also provides a highly intuitive user interface and bridges the gap between the switched telephone network and the future world of VoIP.

Cordless aspect provided by DECT

The cordless aspect of the product is provided by DECT – the well-established and familiar wire-free technology used across the world for existing cordless telephony applications. The telephone base station itself is easily connected to the PC via a USB interface and to the ordinary telephone line via the normal telephone jack.

High-quality Internet telephony

SkypeTM and RTX share the vision of harnessing the power of the Internet to give consumers more flexible, cost-effective, yet high-quality telephony. Internet telephony is transforming the nature of the telecommunications industry and industry experts expect it to become the de facto method for voice communications within the near future.  Until recently, only technophiles havebenefited from VoIP telephony. However, the technology is rapidly maturing, driven by SkypeTM and other innovative soft phone companies. The greatest opportunity is the price-conscious mass market, where ease of use is essential. This is why RTX has developed a platform for low-cost cordless telephony for both VoIP and standard PSTN, with the added benefit of being able to use a cordless handset, rather than a PC.